For Your Family
by rabbitmonkey
Summary: Chapt4 of around 20.   When the BAU team face a particularly brutal UNSUB, the whole team have to rally around. Oh, and it just got personal.
1. One Case Over

**DISCLAIMER: I own absolutely nothing, and that definitely include Criminal Minds or any of the Characters (booo). **

**Just quick – as this is my first CM fic, and to be honest only my third fanfic I've posted, with the other 2 being about 6 years ago! I've spent that last few weeks pretty much watching 2-3 episodes a day, and I love the show. I had an idea for a story, and I could not get it out of my mind, so I thought I would give it a go. **

**Personal Disclaimer –I'm not a brilliant writer, but I blooming enjoy it! I'm also English – so if there are any phrases I've used that you're not sure of, it's just an English thing! **

**This is un-beta'd, so apologies for any glaring mistakes. I'm hoping people like this and they'll be a point to me carrying on once I get going, but knowing me I'll plough on for my own piece of mind! If anyone fancies being a beta let me know – I need all the help I can get! **

**I do hope you enjoy. **

**Chapter One – One Case Over**

Derek Morgan walked across the bullpen and smiled as he saw Emily Prentiss sitting on the edge of Spencer Reid's desk, ruffling his hair. The team had finished a case in Keystone, Delaware yesterday and had flown home this morning. It had ended up be a relatively easy case, in comparison to many the team have had to endure recently. Two young men had been abducted within 6 days of each other and the local police believed it may be connected with a dismembered body found a few days prior in woodlands, and possibly four others found over six years in the state. In the end the two cases weren't connected and the BAUs profile helped the local police find the UNSUB, save the two men, both of whom were unharmed, and left another profile for the state-wide killings for the detectives to use. It was a rare happy ending for the group, and since the jet left Delaware every member of the team was looking forward to finishing their paperwork and getting home, for once without the weight of horrendous sights at the forefront of their minds.

"What's Reid done now?" Morgan quizzed as he made it to his brunette colleagues side.

"Why do you assume I've done anything? It's very rare I ever actually deserve anything you guys throw at me!" Reid shot back, a smile in his voice. Derek grinned; it was nice seeing their boy wonder upbeat. They haven't had that too much the last year.

"He won't tell me who he's going to Domingo's tonight with," Prentiss chimed, she made a move to grab Reid's cell phone but he blocked it and quickly shoved it in his pocket. "I heard him talking on the phone, it sounded very intimate!"

Reid squirmed under the attention he was getting. Sometimes he forgot privacy wasn't a virtue in the BAU office. He should have thought about that before he took the phone call in Prentiss' earshot, he chuckled to himself. And people called him a genius.

"You sneaky dog, you!" Derek almost sung, sending a friendly punch onto Reid's shoulder. He actually felt like a proud father watching his baby taking his first steps. All those hours spent coaching Reid on chat-up lines may not have been a waste of everyone's time after all.

"Oh, I don't know Morgan. Do you fancy grabbing a bit to eat after we finish here?" Prentiss caught Derek's eye and winked, hoping he would play along. Although, she had little to worry about; if anyone was up for gently winding up Spencer Reid, it was Morgan. "I think I fancy Pizza, how about you?"

Reid rose from his chair and pushed past his two friends, ignoring their supposed-to-be secret giggles. Walking over the coffee machine he could hear them discussing what pizza they were going to share, and what type of "lady-friend" he was meeting. Reprimanding himself at how bad he was at keeping things a secret he wandered back to his desk with his fresh coffee and looked at his two eager colleagues. Working with profilers, he knew when he wasn't going to win a battle, so he might as well make it as pain-free as possible and end it now.

"Oh, alright." Reid sighed. Looking up to see both Morgan and Prentiss' expressions change, each of them in disbelief that it was so easy to break him. "If you really want to know, yes I'm going to dinner with someone special." Another friendly punch on the shoulder from Morgan.

"I'm meeting my sister, Laura. She's over from England and staying with me for a while." Reid knew this wasn't the answer they were expecting. He saw Prentiss' eyes turn quizzical and had to cough to stifle a laugh when he saw Morgan's mouth hang open, slightly lopsided, in shock and his normally smooth forehead wrinkle in confusion. Sometimes it paid to be mocked when you can get the upper hand, especially if it makes Derek Morgan pull a face like _that_.

"You have a sister?" Prentiss cut the stunned silence with an unbelieving tone to her voice.

"I never knew that." Morgan sounded more hurt than anything. Reid grimaced slightly. The two men had grown extremely close over the years, and they both considered each other very good friends, almost family, and Morgan couldn't believe he had kept this from him. "You never mentioned that before."

Reid look directly into Morgan's eyes, almost forgetting Prentiss' presence completely, almost forgetting that two minutes ago this was all a bit of a laugh. He wanted his explanation to be directed to Morgan, so he would understand it wasn't something he openly shared, and that was the only reason he never brought it up before.

"She was taken into care when she was only 6. I was 12." He wasn't sure why he felt he needed to justify this secret, but he also knew that it mattered to Morgan. That made it matter to him. "My mum wasn't great at the time, and she was completely convinced Laura had evil spirits corrupting her. A neighbour came into the house while Mum had her head under the water in the bath; she was trying to exorcise her. I couldn't protect her, she nearly killed her." He saw Morgan's expression change again, this time it was sympathetic. He was glad about that, it always made stories like these easier to tell.

"She was adopted a year later when mum was deemed unfit to look after her because she was that much younger. Her new family was nice, lived in suburban Las Vegas, and I got to see her quite a bit." He was babbling, he knew he was, but he couldn't stop once he got going. "Eventually her new dad got offered a job in London and they all moved out there. She's coming back to take some courses in Washington, so is going to stay with me at the weekends."

"Reid, man.." Morgan laid a hand on his shoulder, where he had been gently punching before. "You should have said something before."

"She wasn't about at the time, it wasn't really something I would out of my way divulge" He smiled at the two.

Prentiss, realising that she was slightly a third wheel in this heart to heart as she so often was with these two, smiled back. "Is she a genius too?" The mood instantly lightened. "Are we going to have another mini-Reid to contend with?"

"She's hardly mini. She's 22 now."

Morgan and Prentiss laughed, it always shocked them how literally he took everything.

"More importantly, is she prettier than you, pretty boy?" Morgan teased, glad he could get back the high-ground and continue the banter.

Prentiss' hand was mid-air ready to playfully slap Morgan's arm, and it was Reid's turn to look shocked when JJ walked out of Hotch's office, her glossy blonde hair scraped back into a high ponytail and her arm filled with case files. Garcia followed closely behind, her peroxide hair even more bedraggled than usual, and trusty laptop in-hand. All three of them held their breath, hoping JJ would walk past and not holler then into the briefing room. JJ was not a popular woman sometimes.

Today was not their lucky day, as she turned to them mid-step.

"Guys, I'm sorry" Her voice conveyed the sincerity of her apology. "Can you be in the briefing room in 10? This is one that can't wait."

They all let out a groan and separated, going to gather their own briefing essentials.

"Sounds like this is going to be a bad one." Prentiss whispered as she grabbed her pad and pen. She didn't like the tone of JJs voice, and it was deflating having to step into another case so soon after such a successful one. "No rest for the wicked."

"I'll be up in a mo." Reid pulled out his cell phone and dialled his sister's number. It was 2 years since he'd last seen her and he was already cancelling on her.

He was a worse brother than he thought.

**So there you go, chapter one, just a short one. This isn't really the "tone" of the entire fic, in case you're wondering, but I guess you'll have to come back to find out what that is.**

**Thanks for taking the time. **


	2. And Another Begins

**DISCLAIMER: Nope, still don't own anything to do with CM. And yes, I'm still annoyed about it! **

**WARNING: Contains small disciption of torture. Brief. **

**Thanks for anyone who read, and especially my two lovely reviewers! Hopefully you'll like this - the introduction to the bad guy.**

**Chapter Two – And Another One Begins**

Aaron Hotchner was stood in front of the white board, his face concentrating on 3 photos. Each one contained a 20-something woman smiling into the camera, their brunette hair hanging loose by their pretty, but non-descript faces. Sometimes he preferred to look at pictures of victims like these once they had been killed, before they had any their future, their potential, their smiles taken from them. When they were dead it was easy thinking of them as just a victim, a body; seeing them alive was like looking at what could have been. It always made him feel sorrow to look at them alive, when they thought they had all the time in the world. In this instance, each girl was looking directly at the camera, and it always made him wonder who was taking the picture. Not everyone can make someone's face full of joy like all three of these girls showed, their eyes brimming with happiness, and they must have been looking at someone they loved. That someone was now missing a part of their life; someone they would never be able to replace. He knew how that felt now, every time he looks at Hayley smiling back at him from the picture sitting on his desk.

JJ had already taken Hotch through this latest case, and he knew it was definitely one for the team but he also had concerns. He was proud of his agents, and had every faith in each of their abilities to cope with the horrendous things they see, but every so often a case comes up that can make your blood run cold, an UNSUB that defies everything they had seen before. He was scared this was one of them, and he always felt guilt at putting these incredible people through it again and again.

He sighed and nodded at JJ, who was standing to his side. She turned to the group of four agents, and one technical analyst gathered around the table. The room has remained eerily quiet, everyone waiting to be briefed on the latest monster currently walking free. JJ loved this job, and she loved the people she worked with, but every so often she really wished she wasn't there with them. The work never ended. There was always another serial killer to stop, always one more case file to go through, always one more life cut short. Right now a beach somewhere very hot with Will and Henry sounded perfect. She mentally noted to book something once this case was over.

"Garcia," JJ looked across to the curvaceous blonde. "Can you start it up please?"

Oddly silently, a quick caress of the keypad of her computer and Garcia brought to life the screen at the front of the room. She ignored the look of concern from Morgan, and brought her eyes up to see the image she had had to look at on her small laptop screen in all its horrendous glory on widescreen.

It showed a semi-naked body, limbs strewn in different directions, resting in a pile of leaves at the base of a tree. It was hard to see one inch of skin that wasn't covered in the mottled shades of ageing bruises, deep gashes or red raw burns. Each team member's reaction was different; Rossi let out a long, low whistle; Prentiss took an intake of breath; Garcia closed her eyes and dug her ruby red fingernails into the palm of her hand.

"Two days ago Shelly-Anne Stobark, a 21 year old waitress, was found dead in woodland 5 miles west of Halifax, Virginia." JJ explained. "She had been severely beaten, stabbed 18 times in the torso and legs, and covered in whip marks. There were burn marks on her body, from cigarette butts, what looks like a heated metal rod and even one shaped as a horseshoe."

A nod from JJ, more tapping from Garcia and two more pictures appeared on the screen, both showing a similar sight to the first.

"Three weeks before the body of Kirsten Thompson, 21, was found 180 miles away, her body sustained the same injuries as Shelly-Anne. Two months prior to that Alicia Sunderland, 20, was found just 6 miles from Shelly-Anne's dumpsite."

"Cause of death?" Rossi asked, the fatal blow often giving an insight into the mind of the killer.

"Every one of them strangled." JJ answered, her normal official tone of voice not betraying the emotions swimming around in the pit of her stomach. "But he doesn't kill them until approximately three weeks."

"Three weeks?" Prentiss sighed. "He's keeping them, and he's torturing them. It also means there would have been an overlap of victims between the second and thirds body was found. He had two girls at once."

"That's not all." Hotch took the reigns from JJ. "While he has them he sends, what he calls "gifts" to the family. A series of photographs of their daughters in pain and distress"

As if by magic a set of Polaroid's appeared on the screen, showing close ups of the kidnapped women's battered faces.

"He calls them "Gifts"?" Reid picked out the odd phrasing when dealing with an UNSUB. "How is he contacting them?"

"Letters with the pictures. He always signs off in the same way." JJ threw several single sheets of paper into the middle of the table, all in individual evidence bag. At the bottom in harsh black marker pen was the single word the UNSUB had elected to be known as; "Freedom". Before any of the team had the chance to ask the golden question she continued, "No traces of any kind of DNA has been found on them."

"He also sends videos." Hotch picked back up seamlessly where he had finished. "Two for each girl he has taken so far. This video was sent two days after the abduction"

Garcia started expertly hitting the keys, but as soon as a video brought itself up on the screen and started playing she swiftly stood from her chair and moved to the back of the room, and stared at the wall as if it held the answers to life itself.

"I've seen this already. I don't need to see it again."

_The team all watched in silence as the back wall of what looked like some sort of farm building came into view. They saw a young brunette lying on the ground, facing away from the camera, laying still enough that was it not for the smooth rise and fall of her chest you would have thought she was dead. No one reacted as a balaclava covered man came into view and kicked her at the side of the torso. She yelped, and rolled over onto her shoulder so her face came into view, Kirsten Thompson, the second victim. Her lip was split and hair stuck to her forehead from sweat. The UNSUB pulled something from out of shot, it end glowing red from the flames it had just been pulled from. As he turned his back from the camera, the red glow to the shape of a horseshoe, and his booming voice filled the room._

"_Tick, tock. This isn't a game you want to lose now, is it?" _

_He pressed the red-hot horseshoe onto Kirsten's stomach and she let out primal scream that seemed to start from the very depths of her soul. It was only drowned out eventually by a gleeful laugh from the UNSUB, that seemingly starting from the empty space where his soul should have been. _

JJ slung one more single sheet onto the table, this time it containing a photo. It was a close-up of the horseshoe burn the team had just watch inflicted. The silent agents all leaned forward to study it. Curved around the U-Shape was a pattern created by the absence of burns.

It simply spelt the word FREEDOM.

"He's branding them." Rossi saying out loud exactly what they were all thinking.

"And he also has two more girls."


	3. Who's Watching?

_**DISCLAIMER - I do not own Criminal Minds, or the characters.**_

_**Thank you everyone that has read and reviewed. I hope you enjoy the next installment. Its slightly "bitty" because I want to get the story going along now - I'm not particularly patient! **_

**

* * *

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**Chapter Three - Starting the Profile and Morgan "meets" mini-Reid**

JJ had explained that the two girls, 23 year old Holly Anderson and 21 year old Madison Streets, were taken within 24 hours of each other only 21 miles apart, just two days ago. The sudden escalation of the abductions, and communication between the now five separate police departments, lead to the BAU team being called in.

So far there had been no communication from the UNSUB, but they all knew there was a clock slowly ticking down.

Hotch had decided that the team would centre their efforts at the BAU office as each case was relatively local, and they would need to work with the different detectives rather than just one.

After the first briefing each of the team were sent on the respective missions, and were due to meet back in the briefing room to discuss any information they had learnt throughout the day. JJ and Hotch went to speak to the parents of the currently missing girls, Prentiss and Rossi made their way to speak to the detectives and abduction and dump site of the first victim, while Morgan and Reid looked into the last two victims.

* * *

_I smiled when I saw an older man and a brunette woman step from the blacked out SUV. I guess this will be the FBI agents then. I heard a local detective talking in a bar last night, saying that they had called in the feds to catch the "sick son of a gun" whose been killing those girls. According to him, they are the Behavioural Analysis Unit, the best there is. I watch the woman walk to the police department entrance, a confidence in her step, and can't help to think that a few years ago she would have been exactly my type. A quick look down to the files I have strewn on the passenger seats shows me her name; Emily Prentiss. It's amazing the information you can get if you know how to look. Even FBI agents personal files. I laughed when I realised the agents themselves probably haven't even been able to see these. _

_It's about time I made this game a little more interesting, and there is nothing like playing the game with the best players. _

_I just need to find the perfect way to make this personal._

* * *

The next morning the team had gathered back at the round table, each one of them with a steaming fresh cup of coffee in hand.

"Okay, he's clearly an organised killer. He hasn't lost control." Morgan started the profile rubbing his hand on his chin, over his two day old stubble.

"How can you say that, look what he done to them." JJ sounded surprised. She was no profiler, but the injuries on the body looked like overkill to her.

"I know. But if you look," Morgan pointed to close up images of the victims wounds, "all the wounds are clean, even the stab wounds show nothing more than a clean cut. The burns look evenly spaced down their arms and legs. This isn't a crime of passion, or even very much rage involved. This is methodical." Morgan answered, looking directly at his colleague. He knew she always took the case hardest on the days following talking to victim's family. She cares, and it's one of the traits that make her brilliant at her job.

"He's a thrill killer. He likes to be close to them when he's hurting them, it's why he chooses strangulation to finally kill them." Hotch threw in, beginning to mould the profile.

"What about lust?" Prentiss quizzed, "He may not be sexually abusing them but there may be other ways he's acting out his fantasies?"

"Maybe he can't? Maybe that's why he stabs them." Rossi offered.

"I don't think so. None of the stab wounds are anywhere near the genitals. I just think it's all about the thrill." Hotch interjected. He looked down at the photos, tired at seeing images like these far too often. "He gets off enough putting these girls through hell."

"How did he take them?" Reid looked up from the case file he was studying. "It says here Shelly-Anne was walking home from work in daylight, Kirsten was shopping with friends on a busy Saturday afternoon and Alicia was walking her dog in the local park? None of these are secluded snatch areas."

"He secluded them and then overpowered them, or he waited, watched, and just surprised them when there was no one around." Morgan imagined the scenario in his head, trying to get a sense of how the UNSUB worked.

"I don't think it's a surprise attack, well not completely." Prentiss furrowed her brow. "There were no signs of struggle at any of them, and even though there were people around no one heard anything to indicate that. No bags, jackets, purses dropped. If it was a surprise and overpower abduction, the UNSUB wouldn't have had time to make sure everything was so….clean."

"All of the parents mentioned in the interviews that the girls were nice, kind-hearted, went out of their way to help people." JJ joined back into the conversation. "He may have ploy to take them away from prying eyes.

"A surprisingly small number of abductions actually include the victim talking to the assailant before they are taken." Reid remembered reading a report published in the last month "In fact, it's becoming more and more rare now as woman are more aware of having conversations with unknown males."

"Which means if he did speak to them, he would have had to appear safe for them to feel comfortable." Hotch once again moved the profile on.

"Ted Bundy used to have a fake cast on his left arm, or even used crutches, and ask his potential victim if they would help him carry something to his car. Once there he would hit them over the head with a crowbar and load them into his car" Reid again, facts constantly spinning in his head.

"Even so, most woman won't be comfortable helping a strange man, especially if there is little to no one else about."

"Okay, so he would have to appear safe, even vulnerable using some kind of ploy. But he would also need to have the ability to easily talk with these women; be articulate, charming." Rossi stepped up from his chair and moved toward the white board, writing as he talked.

"We're dealing with a sociopath" Morgan was the first to say what everyone was thinking.

"I think so."

Every one of them grimaced slightly. It was somehow harder deadling with sociopaths, and it always made the cases harder to break. Normally smart, charming, and with a view that their victims were just objects, just a means to an end. It was going to be a long case.

"Reid." Hotch's voice was louder, a more official tone. Reid stood, awaiting an order from his superior. "I want you to work with Garcia on narrowing down a geographic profile."

"Right" Reid gathered his things and walked out of the room.

"The rest of us need to look at victimology, it might give us more of an insight."

* * *

It had been over an hour of further discussions when the room was filled with "Rhapsody in Blue" by George Gershwin; each team member smiled when they realised Reid had left his cell phone on his desk. Only he would chose such a ringtone.

Morgan looked down and saw the caller ID, a devilish smile spreading over his face. He found Prentiss' eyes and silently mouthed the words; "his sister".

Grabbing the phone and answering before Prentiss could stop him, Morgan pressed the phone to his ear.

"Hello?" A soft female voice, with an unmistakeable English inflection to her accent, came through the speaker. "Spence, is that you?"

"Uhh, no. Laura right? You're his sister?" Prentiss shook her head at Morgan, it still shocked her how he could never resit sticking his nose in when it came to the youngest member of the team. JJ and Rossi looked quizzically over to Prentiss and she waved a hand, as if to say she would explain later. Hotch didn't flinch, and Prentiss smiled. He has access to all of their files, of course he already knew.

"Yeah, this is Laura." There was a quick pause, before a sweet, infectious laugh erupted from down the line. "Let me guess,.. Morgan? Spence has told me all about you."

"Oh, Charming. All good I hope"

"If it was all good then I wouldn't have realised this was you." Another laugh, this time making Morgan chuckle.

"He isn't here are the moment Sweets. Can I leave him a message?"

"Yeah, go on then. Can you let him know that I've gone down to the library but I shouldn't be too long. If he phones the flat and I'm not there he'll freak, and I'll turn my mobile off when I'm in there. Just tell him I'll be home before him, and that I'll treat him to Domingo's tonight seen as he cancelled on me the other night!"

"Of course I will, I don't know how late we'll be but I will let him know."

"Well if it's not too late, and you have nothing else planned, you should join us." Laura's smile was evident through the phone. "I want to meet the famous Derek Morgan, the one who has managed to teach my brother some social skills. You're almost a miracle worker."

This time Morgan let out a rasping laugh, he was beginning to like her. It sounded like she more than made up for Reid's lack of social skills.

"That sounds lovely, I'll look forward to seeing if you're as smart as your brother."

"Don't be stupid." And as quickly as that Laura hung up.

Morgan looked down at the phone in his hand, almost dumbstruck. Prentiss moved over to him, wanting to know exactly what had made him laugh in such a short conversation.

"I think mini-Reid is going to be full of surprises!"

* * *

The sun had fallen low in the sky and the agents were still working on various aspects of the profile when Garcia and Reid entered the room.

"Guys." The tone of Reid's voice instantly made the team realise they had something serious to disclose. Morgan decided it was best to wait to relay his conversation with Laura. "We've just had a package delivered. The back has been signed as "FREEDOM"

He placed the small package envelope on the table and backed away slightly. It was addressed to the BAU team, but what caught their attention was that each of their names were written at the very bottom.

"What the...?" Morgan leaned closer, hoping he'd mis-read.

Garcia sat slowly sat down, and exhaled. Her pink lips wobbling as the air pushed through them.

"This has just become all sorts of wrong."


	4. It Gets Personal

**Chapter Four – It gets personal**

Every team member sitting at the round table inhaled and held their breath as their leader stared at the package in his hand that had just made this case far more personal.

Slowly pulling a sheet of paper from the envelope with his gloved hand, for an instant a grimace passed across Hotch's features. It was only brief, a rare moment when his true feelings weren't masked by his ever-present stoic game face. Normally it would go unnoticed, a slight change of facial features not picked up by everyday people, but every profiler sitting at the table saw it. It was hard to hide anything from them. No one would ever comment on it though, they all know without having to, that they each saw it, that it made them all feel better. Hotch felt scared too. Scared just like them when their personal lives could easily become involved with a case. It made them all feel better about the dread rising from the pit of their stomach if they saw he felt it too.

Hotch pulled a small, ripped sheet of lined paper from the padded envelope, and brought it up to his face. Without taking his eye off of the inscription that he was keeping secret for now he dove his hand back in and pulled out three pictures.

A long, tired sigh escaped his lips as he closed his eyes, steeling himself. Everyone else in the room still held their breath.

Without a word Hotch put the envelope into the middle of the table, along with the ripped note. Everybody strained forward, reading the words written in messy capitals;

"**LETS HOPE YOU CAN FIND AS MUCH OUT ABOUT ME AS I KNOW ABOUT YOU.**

**LET THE GAMES BEGIN….RULES TO FOLLOW**

**FREEDOM."**

Collectively the group started breathing again, although no one knew if it was relief or fear that filled the room.

"He hasn't given us any information," Rossi stands from his chair, takes a step behind it and leans on the back with both arms. Almost using the chair as a shield against the UNSUB's words. "He could be bluffing. Have our names and nothing else.."

Derek Morgan's eyes swung to Hotch, searching his eyes for the moment he makes his decision about Rossi's theory. There was no glimmer of agreement, but neither was there the void of resignation. He hated it when Hotch didn't have the answer, even if he wouldn't voice it yet, it was so much easier knowing that he was in control.

"Wh…wh…what about the pictures?" Garcia sounded out her words slowly trying unsuccessfully to keep the quaver from her voice, desperately trying not to let the ever-professional profilers realise that even if this was a bluff, it has still unnerved her. She never looked up from her hands, where she was picking the freshly painted ruby red nail varnish from the thumb. Prentiss reached across the gulf between them and took her hand.

"Our latest two victims," Hotch settled two Polaroid's on top of the letter. Both pictures showed the girls, their head forced up to the camara, someone pulling on their mud stained hair, a makeshift gag in their mouth. Both had tears streaking their dirty faces, making tracks in the mud and grime on their cheeks. Forever staining them.

"And this," Hotch waves the last photo in his hand, not showing the picture side to the group. This one wasn't a Polaroid, this wasn't the same as everything that has been sent through before. "I think this is his latest victim. He's giving us the head-start, sending the picture to us instead of the family."

He let go of the photo and let it glide to the table, it cutting through the air with every swipe. The tension was so heavy in the room it was almost working as a knife, slicing through it, mixing it with dread that this monster already had another girl. Another young, innocent girl that was that much closer to dying. It felt like an age before the picture finally settled picture-side up.

Hotch couldn't have known what was going to happen next, how this simple photo was going to change the whole case. No one could have, and no one really expected it. No one could have known that those few seconds between that photo leaving Hotch's hand and hitting the table would be the last moments that this case would remain a simple case. They couldn't have known that this was about to be a case that changed them forever.

A chair scraped back with an ear-splitting noise, following by a harsh crack as the chair tipped and hit the ground. A body rose above all others, standing erect, fear, shock and blind terror sending their body rigid.

"_Oh my God."_

The picture showed a beautiful brunette in full gown at her graduation ceremony. Clutching her degree, a smile illuminated her face, spreading all the way to her dazzling green eyes. Tall and slender, her nose was wrinkled as though she was stifling a laugh long enough to take the picture. Her eyes weren't focused on the camera, but slightly off to one side, making the entire shot look slightly off-kilter. Her eyes held a spark, as she looked at the person that had made her nose wrinkle.

It didn't take long for them all to see the resemblance. The body frame, the jaw-line, the long, dark eyelashes. It wouldn't have taken their reaction for them to figure out who she was, as everyone else was only a second behind standing from their seats in realisation at what this meant.

It didn't take a genius to work out that out of shot it was probably her brother making her smile. It was probably Dr Spencer Reid.

Spencer's hands flew to his trousers pockets, frantically searching, and when they didn't find what they were searching for they reached up to his first pocket.

"Where's my phone?" His voice sounded strained, as if forced out through a million other questions.

"Kid, it's here, you left it earlier," Morgan passed his the cell from his pocket. He had to ask, he had to make sure. Making sure that on that phone just hours ago he was chatting to the beautiful girl from the picture. "Reid, is that Laura?"

"Yes, yes, I've got to ring her. I don't know where she is." His fingers fumbled over the buttons, his hands visibly shaking.

"She rang while you were with Garcia," Morgan started, Spencer's eyes flying up to meet his, puzzled. "She said she was going to the library, she wanted to let you know she'd be there all day so you wouldn't freak if you rang the apartment, and she would be home before you. She said she'd take you out for dinner tonight."

Morgan walked as he spoke, moving towards his younger, worried colleague. He placed a firm hand onto his shoulder and Spencer visibly relaxed, as though the touch from Morgan was holding him steady, making him stronger.

The rest of the team all stood in their positions, purely spectators to this moment between the two. No one made a move, or went to say anything they all just silently stood and watched.

"She's probably still there. She said she would probably have her cell phone off in there."

"I still need to try. " Spencer finally brought the phone to his ear. The room was in such silence that you could hear the dialling tones and subsequent ringing.

"Hello?" A voice resonated through the room, shocking them all.

"Laura! Is that you?" Spencer's eyes widened and found Morgan's also shocked pair. A brief smile was exchanged before Spencer turned his back to speak with his sister. "Where are you?"

"I've just left the library. I'm going to my car. Why?" A slightly cynical voice answered. "I left a message with Derek."

"I know, I know." He ran a hand through his hair, pulling it behind his ear. "Laura, just do me a favour okay? Go back to the library, go to the librarian and stay with her. I'll send someone to come get you."

Slowly, each member of the team sat down, except from Hotch who pulled out his own cell phone, ready to have a patrol car sent to pick Laura Reid up, and to keep her from danger.

"Spence…"

"Just trust me okay, please Laura. Please, don't speak to anyone, just go back inside and wait at the front desk."

"Okay Spence!" Laura interrupted harshly, annoyance infiltrating her normally light tone, "I'm just helping someone with their car, it looks like the engine's gone."

Spencer tensed suddenly, and everybody in the room felt it. He spun around to face the team again a spoke slowly, calmly to his sister.

"Laura, I don't care what you say." Spencer spoke each word carefully, in a hushed voice so no one  
on the other end would be able to hear. "Just turn back and go to the library. Whoever you're helping, just leave them. I don' care if their car has broken down, you're in danger, stop helping them and go back. Please…now."

There was silence from the other end. Hotch dialled the number to the local police department, and pulled the phone to his ear urgently.

"Laur…"

Spencer froze, a chill running down his spine. His eyes once again found Morgan, unable to hide the pure ice that just went running through his veins.

Hotch started barking order through his own phone, telling the officers on the other end where they need to be NOW.

From down the phone line Spencer heard the unmistakeable sound of click as the hammer of a handgun is pulled back.

An audible gasp from Laura, fear outwardly expressed as a gun it pushed into her face.

"Oh shit, Spencer, I'm sorry."


End file.
